Films based on, adapted from, or loosely inspired by real-life events have been commonplace since the beginning of cinema, and they remain a highly popular proposition to this day. This makes perfect sense, because not only does ripping from historical record allow filmmakers to bypass the old Twain-ian dictum about truth being fundamentally stranger than fiction, but there's just an extra oomph of fascination to watching events unfold in a movie while knowing they bear at least some small measure of resemblance to things that actually happened.

The number of great films based on true stories is, frankly, too great to even count. You could honestly make a sizable list of the best such movies for every year since 1925, but here, we've tried to come up with a roster of exemplary masterpieces that showcase the very best of what fact-based cinema can be. Heavy fictionalization, historical liberties, and artistic license may apply,...